Flexible Pouch Beverage Package

ABSTRACT

A flexible pouch beverage container includes one or more extra compartments adjacent the portion of the pouch which holds the beverage. The extra compartments are arranged to hold additives, such as sweetener, flavorings, or the like, until selected by a consumer. If a consumer wants extra sweetener or some other additive which is being retained in one of the available compartments, he simply squeezes the compartment where indicated and the additive is made available to be dissolved in the beverage. Structure is provided to make either dry or liquid additives.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of flexible pouchesfor packaging a product and, more specifically, to a flexible pouch withone or more user-selectable compartments which retain additives to bedissolved within a liquid retained with the pouch.

2. Description of the Related Art

As described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,490, various types of disposable,portable containers are known in the art for storing a fluid or dryproduct, such as a liquid, granular material, powder or the like. Oneexample of such a container is a flexible pouch. Consumers prefer theconvenience of flexible pouches, due to their shape and size andimproved shelf life. Manufacturers recognize the packaging benefits of aflexible pouch, since the pouch can be formed and filled on the samemanufacturing line. An example of a method and apparatus for filling aflexible pouch with a product is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,601and patents that reference that patent.

The flexible pouch beverage package is typically made from a flexiblematerial, preferably a laminate composed of sheets of plastic oraluminum or similar types of materials. These types of materials areavailable in sheet form, on a roll. An outer layer of the material mayinclude preprinted information, such as a logo or the like, to providethe consumer with information regarding the contents of the pouch. Thepouch may be formed using conventionally known manufacturing techniques,such as a horizontal form-fill seal machine, a flat bed pre-made pouchmachine, a vertical form fill machine, or the like. The pouch isgenerally formed by folding sheets of material over each other toachieve a predetermined shape.

Edges, such as a side edge, are joined together using a sealingtechnique such as bonding or welding. Alternatively, the pouch is formedby laying one layer of material over a second layer of material andforming a gusset along two parallel edges to form a pouch capable ofstanding unsupported. An upper edge of the front panel and back panel isgenerally not sealed until after the pouch is filled. The empty pouchmay be placed in a holder prior to the filling process. To fill thepouch, the upper edges of the pouch are spread apart. For example, aconcentrated flow of gas is directed towards the upper edge of the pouchto separate the panels. Grippers may also be utilized at the same timeto pull the panels apart. The pouch is filled, sealed and finished.

Manufacturers recognize that tastes of consumers vary considerably evenin respect of the same basic beverage. For example, some consumersprefer unsweetened tea, while others prefer some sweetener, either sugaror artificial sweetener, while still others prefer a lot of sweetener.Others prefer other additives in their tea, such as lemon flavoring,mint, or other types of additives. Yet, manufacturers manufacture anddistribute many, many different packages in order to accommodate even asmall variation in the recipe of such drinks.

Thus, there remains a need for a package which can dispense auser-selectable additive to a basic beverage so that a singlemanufacturing process for a flexible pouch package can accommodate avariety of tastes of consumers. The present invention is directed tofilling this need in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses these and other drawbacks in the art byproviding one or more extra compartments adjacent the portion of thepouch which holds the beverage. The extra compartments are arranged tohold additives, such as sweetener, flavorings, or the like, untilselected by a consumer. If a consumer wants extra sweetener or someother additive which is being retained in one of the availablecompartments, he simply squeezes the compartment where indicated and theadditive is made available to be dissolved in the beverage. Structure isprovided to make either dry or liquid additives.

The additive may include an effervescent additive to add carbonation tothe drink. Alternatively or in addition, an analgesic additive may bestored in one or more compartments to available to the consumer ifdesired.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention will beapparent to those of skill in the art from a review of the followingdetailed description along with the accompanying drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of a flexible pouch beverage container in partialsection.

FIG. 2 is a side section view of the flexible pouch beverage containerof FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a flexible pouch beverage container or pouch 20in accordance with the present invention adapted to contain a softdrink, water, fruit juices, energy drink and the like. The pouch 20 ispreferably formed of laminated plastic material, comprising a frontpanel 11, a pack panel 12, and a bottom panel 13. These three parts areglued or heat bonded together at the outer edges to form theliquid-tight pouch 20. The front panel 11 is equipped with a hole,through which a straw 15 can be inserted by punching through a seal tape16. The liquid contained in the pouch can thus be sucked out through thestraw 15.

The upper end of the pouch 20 defines one, two, or even morecompartments, such as compartments 21 and 22, each containing anadditive such as sweetener, flavoring, such as lemon, vanilla, etc.and/or caffeine, just to name a few examples. Medication, such asaspirin or other types of medicines that are easier taken inliquid-dissolved form, may also be held in the compartments 21 and 22.Additives like these can be in liquid or dry, powder form and retainedwithin a compartment for selective release from the compartment.

An opening 23 is provided at the bottom of the compartment 21 and asimilar opening 24 is provided for compartment 22. The openings 23 and24 are closed by tapes 26 and 28 to keep additives 30 and 32 from cominginto contact with a liquid 34 until selected by a user. Thus, the tapedefines a user-breakable barrier between each of the compartments andthe liquid 34 retained in the pouch.

Information about the contents of compartments 21 and 22 may be printedon the outside of the front panel 11, as shown in FIG. 1. To mix anadditive with the liquid 34 contained in the pouch 20, the selectedcompartment 21 or 22 can be squeezed until the tape 26 or 28 is forcedaway from its respective opening 23 or 24, thus allowing the selectedadditive into contact with the liquid 34.

Dry additives in powder form cannot be easily squeezed out through asmall opening 23 or 24. So, the compartment, such as for examplecompartment 21, that contains a powder should be partially filled withair, which can be compressed by squeezing the compartment, until thesealing tape 26 bursts away. The pouch can then be held upside down toallow the liquid 34 to flood the additive compartment holding thepowdered additive, thereby dissolving the additive. To facilitate thisaction, liquid can be pumped back and forth by alternately squeezing thepouch and the additive compartment. Instructions how to do this may alsobe printed on the back panel 12, for example.

The present invention has been described in an illustrative manner. Itis to be understood that the terminology which has been used is intendedto be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation.Modifications and variations of the present invention are possible inlight of the above teachings. Therefore, within the scope of theappended claims, the present invention may be practiced other than asspecifically described.

1. A flexible pouch beverage container comprising: a. a front panel; b.a back panel integrally formed with the front panel; c. a bottom panelintegrally formed with the front and back panels, the front, back, andbottom panels defining a beverage-containing pouch; d. an additivecontaining compartment adjacent the beverage-containing pouch; and e. auser-breakable barrier between the additive containing compartment andthe beverage-containing pouch.
 2. The container of claim 1, wherein theadditive containing compartment is adapted to retain a dry additive. 3.The container of claim 1, wherein the additive containing compartment isadapted to retain a liquid additive.
 4. The container of claim 1,wherein the additive containing compartment is adapted to retain aquantity of a sweetener.
 5. The container of claim 1, wherein theadditive containing compartment is adapted to retain a quantity of ananalgesic.
 6. A flexible pouch beverage container comprising: a. a frontpanel; b. a back panel integrally formed with the front panel; c. abottom panel integrally formed with the front and back panels, thefront, back, and bottom panels defining a beverage-containing pouch; d.a plurality of additive containing compartments adjacent thebeverage-containing pouch; and e. a user-breakable barrier between eachof the plurality of additive containing compartments and thebeverage-containing pouch.
 7. The container of claim 6, wherein at leastone of the additive containing compartments is adapted to retain a dryadditive.
 8. The container of claim 6, wherein at least one of theadditive containing compartments is adapted to retain a liquid additive.9. The container of claim 6, wherein at least one of the additivecontaining compartments is adapted to retain a quantity of a sweetener.10. The container of claim 6, wherein at least one of the additivecontaining compartments is adapted to retain a quantity of an analgesic.11. The container of claim 6, wherein at least one of the additivecontaining compartments is adapted to retain an additive in powder formand at least one other of the plurality of additive containingcompartments is adapted to retain an additive in liquid form.